Apparel Online India Magazine July 1st Issue 2018 | Page 12

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H & M unveils Q2 results

Sweden-based fashion retailer H & M has unveiled financial results for the second quarter of this fiscal ended May 31 , 2018 . During the quarter under review , it reported 2 per cent increase in sales to SEK 60,464 mn as compared to the same period last year . Sales excluding the VAT reached SEK 51,983 mn ( 51,383 ); however , it did not report any change in VAT in local currencies . As on May 31 , 2018 , H & M operated a total of 4,801 stores as compared to 4,498 stores in the corresponding period last year . The retailer will publish its six-month report covering the period from 1 December 2017 to 31 May 2018 this month , on June
28 . By increasing its stores , the fashion retailer has been making its presence felt globally .
On the other hand , its rival Inditex reported increase in net profit to ¤ 668 million in the first quarter of this fiscal . It also reported positive growth in same store sales in all geographies , while H & M , the world ’ s second-largest fashion retailer , struggled to get customers through its doors . Despite expansion globally , the Swedish clothing retailer tried to reduce a record level of inventory . The retailer in 2017 , launched a review of its mix of stores and brands and has expanded its never brands .

Amazon India launches a unique programme to help sellers on its marketplace

Amazon India has announced to expand its Seller Lending Programme which the company launched in 2016 . Amazon has set up its Lender Central in India , a
first of-its-kind in the world by the online retailer . This initiative will help the company ’ s sellers to seek money lending offerings on Amazon ’ s marketplace . At
present , Amazon has six listed lenders on its platform which are Capital First , Capital Float , Bank of Baroda , Aditya Birla Finance , Flexiloans , and Yes Bank . With the seller base going past three lakh , Lender Central will provide lenders with a mass audience . Reportedly , Amazon India has said that they are looking for lenders who can offer small ticket size loans which are below Rs . 2 lakh . “ We are looking for lenders who can offer loans between Rs . 50,000 to Rs . 1 lakh ; also we are in search of those lenders who can lower the interest rate on loans from 12-14 per cent to 10 per cent ,” said Gopal Pillai , GM & Director , Amazon Seller Services . Amazon India also claims to have reduced the time on loan disbursement
to just one day , whereas earlier , it used to take seven days till the time the money used to reach a seller . Furthermore , Pillai added that Amazon has a tried and tested algorithm that accurately predicts whether a seller will be able to repay the loan or not , which is calculated on the basis of an individual historical performance . Markedly , Amazon was launched in India back in 2013 with just hundreds of sellers but the global e-retailer now claims to have more than 3,40,000 sellers who are retailing over 170 million products . This move by Amazon India can help them compete with its biggest rival in the Indian e-market , the Flipkart , especially after the latter ’ s world-record deal with Walmart last month .
12 Apparel Online India | JULY 1-15 , 2018 | www . apparelresources . com